Electric treadmill with a level meter

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an electric treadmill. The treadmill includes a base with a tread belt, upright poles, handrails, and a control panel. There is also a level meter assembled at a preset location of the electric treadmill. Levelness of the electric treadmill is detected, and then the treadmill is adjusted to cater to the demands of the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to an electric treadmill, and more particularly to an innovative treadmill with a level meter.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.

An electric treadmill is typically composed of a base with a tread belt, upright poles, handrails, and a control panel.

When the common electric treadmill is placed on the ground, slight deviation of levelness may not have adverse effect on its operation or cannot be felt by the user.

With continuing development of electric treadmills, expanding functional requirements may be concerned with the levelness. For example, if the control device of the electric treadmill has a new function involving the slope adjustment of the tread belt, it is required to preset the slope benchmark of the tread belt at an absolute level state. Thus, newer electric treadmills with preset levelness are required to meet the functional requirements.

Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve efficacy.

To this end, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is enhanced efficacy of the present invention.

A level meter 40 is assembled into the electric treadmill. Thus, it is possible to adjust the levelness of the electric treadmill A in order to cater to the demands of the user with improved applicability.

There are improvements brought about by this invention.

As the level meter 40 of the present invention is provided with a counting device 70, it is possible to sense the vibration generated from the electric treadmill.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the electric treadmill of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of a level meter and electric treadmill of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an assembled sectional view of the level meter of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the application of the level meter of the present invention at another location.

FIG. 5 shows another schematic view of the application of the level meter of the present invention at still another location.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of the base of the present invention, which is assembled with a horizontal adjusting member.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the level meter of the present invention, which is assembled with counting device.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of counting device as shown in FIG. 7, wherein the counter is connected via a circuit to the control panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 depict preferred embodiments of improved electric treadmill of the present invention. The embodiments are provided only for explanatory objectives. In the figures, the electric treadmill A comprises a base 10 with tread belt 11, upright poles 20, handrails 31, and a control panel 32. A level meter 40 is assembled at a preset location of the electric treadmill A. The level meter 40 may be introduced with a common liquid tube, namely, an air-tight transparent tube 41. The level meter 40 is charged with unsaturated liquid 42 (e.g. alcohol or ether), which forms an air bubble 43 in the transparent tube 41. The air bubble 43 normally moves towards the top of transparent tube 41. A horizontal baseline 44 is placed at the transparent tube 41. When air bubble 43 is located opposite to the horizontal baseline 44, it means that the level meter 40 is at a horizontal state. In addition to the liquid tube employed by the level meter, an electronic level meter may be assembled into the electric treadmill A of the present invention for level measurement.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the level meter 40 can be assembled into the base 10 of the electric treadmill A, which is provided with a groove 101 for positioning of level meter 40. Referring to FIG. 4, the level meter 40B is assembled into the upright pole 20 of the electric treadmill A. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 5, the level meter 40C is assembled into the control panel 32 of the electric treadmill A.

The base 10 of the electric treadmill A is provided with a horizontal adjusting member 50, which is shown in FIG. 6. At various corners of the base 10 of the electric treadmill A, a flexible leg 51 is placed to adjust accurately the base 10 and entire electric treadmill A into a horizontal state.

Based upon above-specified structure of an electric treadmill, a level meter 40 is additionally provides new functions. As mentioned in the prior art, if the control panel 32 of the electric treadmill is required to deliver a new function involving the slope adjustment of the tread belt 11, the slope benchmark of tread belt 11 must be set under at an absolute level state. When an electric treadmill A is purchased by a user or a service provider, the electric treadmill A must be adjusted accurately into a horizontal state, such that the slope set-value of control panel 32 matches the actual slope of the tread belt 11, thus guaranteeing the accurate display of slope variations on the control panel 32. The level meter 40 of the present invention can be used to accurately adjust the horizontal state of the electric treadmill A.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the level meter 40 is provided with a counting device 70, which comprises a counter 71 and a sensor 72. The sensor 72 senses the vibration generated from the electric treadmill A. Since the level meter 40 is assembled into the base 10 of the electric treadmill A, the sensor 72 of the counting device 70 clearly senses the vibration of the base 10, while the counter 71 transmits the message via circuit 73 to the control panel 32 (shown in FIG. 8). When the level meter 40 is assembled onto the upright pole 20 or control panel 32 of the electric treadmill A far away from the tread belt 11, the sensor 72 is separated from the counter 71 and then assembled nearby the tread belt 11 to acquire a better sensing effect on vibrations. 

1. An electric treadmill, comprising: a base with a tread belt; a plurality of upright poles, extending upward from said base; a plurality of handrails, attached to said upright poles; a control panel connected to said handrails; and a level meter is assembled at a preset location of said base.
 2. The treadmill defined in claim 1, wherein said level meter is assembled onto an upright pole or said control panel.
 3. The treadmill defined in claim 1, wherein said level meter is provided with a counting device, said counting device having a counter and a sensor, wherein vibration generated is detected by said sensor.
 4. The treadmill defined in claim 1, wherein said base has a horizontal adjusting member is assembled thereon. 